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MORRISSEY RELEASES B-SIDES ALBUM

SWORDS

2009 has been quite a year for Morrissey. He’s toured relentlessly, performing to sold-out audiences around the world. His 9th studio album, Years Of Refusal, saw Morrissey tie his highest US chart debut on the Billboard 200, and he’s overseen upgraded and remastered versions of his ‘90s works Southpaw Grammar andMaladjusted. Crowning what is undoubtedly his most productive year since his solo career began in 1988,SWORDS compiles 18 select songs released as b-sides of his 13 hit singles from his last four albums.

As an artist who has always ensured his b-sides are of as outstanding quality as his singles and album tracks,SWORDS features some of Morrissey’s finest material. 12 songs are collaborations with guitarist Alain Whyte, the rest co-written with guitarists Boz Boorer and Jesse Tobias, and former keyboardist Michael Farrell. In keeping with the three remarkable studio albums covered in his period – 2004’s You Are The Quarry, 2006’sRingleader Of The Tormentors and Years Of Refusal - the music is powerful and adventurous. The richness and expression of Morrissey’s voice has never been greater. With unmatchable style, wit and insight, truths beneath the surface are laid bare. There are moments of personal reflection; “Munich Air Disaster 1958,” for example, is a heartrending lament for the Manchester United players who died in the infamous plane crash, and for those who were left behind. The live cover version of David Bowie’s 1973 song “Drive-In Saturday” reveals a little more of Morrissey’s own teenage self, with its lyrics of amorous confusion modified to rhapsodize over The New York Dolls rather than the Rolling Stones. Chrissie Hynde makes a rare appearance, singing backing vocals on “Shame is the Name.”

The album was compiled by Morrissey who is surely in the rudest of creative health. They’re subtly assembled and sequenced –the feeling of approaching extinction in the beautiful “The Never-Played Symphonies”followed by a promise of a reunion in the afterlife on “Sweetie-Pie.” As Morrissey said of the Tour Of Refusal in March, “all of our answers will be in our songs.”

Initial quantities of SWORDS will come with a bonus disc featuring eight superb live performances recorded in Warsaw in July this year. This will include songs from Morrissey’s last two albums and 1994’s Vauxhall And I, plus The Smiths’ “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet, Baby,” first heard on the group’s 1986 b-side collection The World Won’t Listen. In October and November Morrissey and his band will also tour the UK and Europe, with new American dates scheduled for later in the year.

SWORDS will be released in the UK on October 26th and November 3rd in the US.

Following the success of their 2007 self-titled record, Little Dragon return this October with the spectacular Machine Dreams, a poppy electronic epic that has already captivated Europe, and is poised to do the same here in the U.S. this fall, kicking off in Los Angeles at KCRW’s Halloween party!

Touring relentlessly since their last record, Little Dragon have earned a quite a reputation in the US. After sessions on KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic,” their album became the most played on the station after Radiohead. For a band touring without a US label, that’s quite a feat. The track “Twice” proved to be a great soundtrack for sexy doctors with problems when it appeared on “Grey’s Anatomy” back in February. Eventually, the band piqued the interest of the attention of David Sitek who became an instant fan and asked the band to support TV On The Radio on their US tour this past May.

Hailing from the burgeoning electro-pop scene in Gothenburg, Sweeden, Little Dragon’s carefully crafted sophomore effort walks the line between experimental electro and giddy synth pop, with enough infectious hooks to push the band from quiet underground sensations into the mainstream. Recorded in their home city of Gothenburg, Machine Dreams is a gigantic leap on from previous material, but still maintains a distinct Little Dragon sound. Be it Yukimi’s warmly inviting vocals, Erik’s dexterous drumming, the vast array of synths and bleeps created by Hakan or Frederik’s bubbling bass lines, together they don’t sound like anything else around right now. The move towards a more electronic sound was a conscious one, as Yukimi explains: “The title Machine Dreams seems obvious. These days, humans seem more and more like machines, and as technology evolves, machines feel more human and it becomes fuzzy and beautiful and science fiction-ish. We feel dependent on our machines to create and live, and their sounds reflect us.”

With disparate influences from Depeche Mode to The Tough Alliance, LCD Soundsystem to James Holden, Dancehall to R&B, Jazz and Soul, Little Dragon take their place among artists who straddle many genres, yet somehow create their own and in doing so create, as Yukimi puts it, “sounds that make time stop.” Futuristic yet also retro, Machine Dreams sees Little Dragon achieve something timeless… that elusive pop classic.